Cultivation practices
a) Land preparation: Land has to be ploughed 3-4 times. Prepare uniform beds.
b) Sowing:
- Time: It is sown in the second fortnight of October.
- Method: Broad cast over beds and rake in rainfed conditions. In irrigated conditions beds of 200 cm wide 500 – 700 cm length are prepared. Seeds dibbled in lines at 60 x 30 cm spacing.
- Seed rate: 30-35 kg for rain fed crop.12- 15 kg for irrigated crop. Germinate in 3- 4 days and complete in 7 – 10 day
c) Thinning: In direct sown crop thin 4 – 5 weeks old seedlings to 25 – 30 cm spacing
d) Irrigation:
- First irrigation is given after sowing seeds.
- Second irrigation is given after first cutting of leaves.
- Afterwards irrigated at 7 – 10 interval.
e) Manuring:
- The crop is commonly grown on residual fertility.
- FYM @ 10-15 tones per ha may be incorporated in the last ploughing.
- 20 kg Nitrogen, 40 kg P2O5 and 20 kg K2O are applied as basal dose.
- Depending upon growth 10-15 kg Nitrogen per ha may be applied after one month
f) Inter cultivation:
- Hoeing and weeding during the early stages of plant growth.